"... I think..." Casper starts slowly, nestling into his boyfriend's arms. "I think I'm just scared of being... alone. I don't want people to hate me, so... so I help them at the expense of myself. And I know I'm not alone here, and I know that Bob's always with me but... you know what I mean."

Trembling fingers catch in the fabric of Shang Beida's robes. "When I was dying... Bob was there but I still felt utterly... alone. I... I think I'm scared of that happening again. I was alone and couldn't breathe from the pain and I... I'm just so desperate to not be alone. But if I go back to my world... the other members of my Band don't care about me. My parents both think I'm a stupid, foolish, useless tool."

He takes a deep breath. "But I can't just abandon a world that has good people in it just because the people I've met have been bad..."